CRAFTS OF INDIA / BATIK / INTRODUCTION

CRAFTS OF INDIA / BATIK / INTRODUCTION

Batik is a cloth that is traditionally made using a manual wax-resist dyeing technique.

Javanese traditional batik, has notable meanings attached to the Javanese conceptualization of the universe. Traditional colours include indigo, dark brown, and white, which represent the three major Hindu Gods (Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva). This is related to the fact that natural dyes are most commonly available in indigo and brown. Certain patterns can only be worn by nobility; traditionally, wider stripes or wavy lines of greater width indicated higher rank. Consequently, during Javanese ceremonies, one could determine the royal lineage of a person by the cloth he or she was wearing.

Other regions of Indonesia have their own unique patterns that normally take themes from everyday lives, incorporating patterns such as flowers, nature, animals, folklore or people.

A lot of white floral art work on a contrastingly dark background, either on the entire portion or sections of the saree, it most probably would be Batik printing. A wave of fresh breeze, novel and catchy, Batik prints are eye-catching for their picturesque white designs on coloured canvas.

Batik on sarees came as a tried-out experiment that succeeded. An art from countries like Indonesia and China, traditional Indian stylists have over a period evolved a unique style of their own.

There are 4 popularly known methods for creating Batik in India.

-In the splash method, the wax is splashed or poured on to the cloth.

-The screen-printing method involves a stencil.

-The hand-painting one is by a Kalamkari pen.

-The scratch and starch resist is one more method.